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Thursday, May 05, 2011

Is technology a bane or blessing?

By Pamela Moeng

My usually dependable Getz is laid up with a terminal case of need-a-new-fuel-pump. The man of the house broke the bad news after an emergency consultation with the service centre. As the car is long out of warranty and the service plan, we are also greatly out of pocket. Sigh.

But this domestic transport crisis gives me a chance to post while I travel home from the day job by bus. Always a silver lining in every storm cloud. Wish I could remember that when deadlines loom!

Technology, some say, has given us a lot of freedom, but isn't it a double-edged sword? With smart phones, netbooks, tablets and wireless connection we are under more pressure than ever to produce. At any time of the day or night, be it after traditional office hours during the work week, weekends, public holidays and even your annual leave!

Whether the gains outweigh the added stress is another issue. Would I give up my Blackberry and netbook in favour of yesteryear when emails were the stuff of science fiction and fax machines the height of technology? One thing I know for sure, my boss in those halycon days didn't expect me to be scanning the horizon for work 24/7, unlike today's boss who thinks work email and sms's should be attended to at all hours of the day and night!

What are your thoughts on the matter - is technology a bane or blessing?

2 comments:

Email is a life-saver for me, as it allows people to explain what they want from me and I can respond when I have time.

On the other hand, I see phone calls/instant messaging/SMSes as the bane. They are very distracting, because they requires instant response from me ( taking me away from writing or whatever work I'm doing and interrupting my line of thought.) And the phone call also creates work, because I still have to note down whatever it is the person is telling me if it's work related. My preference - write it down, email it to me, it will save us both time and I'll be in a better frame of mind to communicate with you because I'm not annoyed because you interrupted me while the words were gushing out of me:-)

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